In photo above, Alison and friends in the finish area.

A group of runners came up with an idea. Pick two of the world's great oceans. Run a nice, challenging training route from one to the other. Hey--it's Africa-big place with room to run. The route wound around a huge mountain, hushed pine forests, vineyards, and roads overlooking endless expanses of ocean and the most beautiful beaches in the world. Word spread, and in 1970 the Two Oceans Ultra Marathon (unintentionally) came into being. Hosted in a city that has wonderful restaurants, rich cultural diversity, African history, and breathtaking scenery to offer, it's a no-brainer why this race has become one of the most popular on the African racing calendar.

The Two Oceans Ultra Marathon, (and the Half-Marathon option which was introduced in 1998), is held in Cape Town, South Africa each year, always on Saturday of Easter weekend. This year, the 37th consecutive running of the event fell on April 15.

Both races finish on the sports fields of the University of Cape Town, which lies at the base of Table Mountain. Table Mountain is famous for its flat top, (accessible by hiking or cable car), and offers incredible views of the southernmost point of Africa, the Cape of Good Hope, and Robbin Island (where Nelson Mandela was incarcerated during the apartheid years).

The Ultra Marathon is 56 km (or 34.8 miles) and is the event's flagship race. Numbers have grown steadily and this year there were 7774 entries. Top runners to watch were Marco Mambo from Zimbabwe, and Russian Elena Nurgalieva, consecutive two-time overall race winners from 2004 and 2005. Both were both looking to three-peat their success. Elena's close tussle with her twin sister Olesya is always a highlight of the women's race, but this year Olesya was in the U.S. for the Boston Marathon two days later. However, Elena had plenty of competition in the form of Comrades Ultra Marathon winner Tatyana Zhirkova, and 2003 winner Simon Staicu of Hungary. There was also a celebrity component with Ethan Zohn, the winner of Survivor Africa, entered in the Ultra, which he finished (sorry, survived) in a respectable 5:54:22.

The route is actually quite flat for the first 28 kilometers. It starts by heading out and down toward the east side of the Cape peninsula to the edge of the Indian Ocean, then south following the coastline on roads, giving a birds eye view of some of the most spectacular beaches in the world. Then it turns sharply west, back across the continent. It starts to climb quickly as one approaches the start of Chapman's Peak (which overlooks Noerdhoek Beach) leading the runners to the Atlantic Ocean shore. From there it heads north, and from Hout Bay climbs again to the highest point at Constantia. Thereafter the route is undulating until the finish at UCT.

Responding to concerns that the 7:00 am start was too late and that runners would have too much sun to cope with, Patrick Cox, Chairman of the Mr. Price Celtic Harriers running club had this to say of the route, "The ultra route is almost completely in shade from the start of Chapman's Peak. Chapman's Peak is entirely in shade as it faces west and the sun is in the east in the morning. The route is in the shadow of the mountain the whole morning. Constantia Pass is completely tree-lined and shaded all the way, as is Rhodes Drive all the way to the last 3 kilometres of the race. One couldn't find a cooler route for an ultra in South Africa if one tried." The 21K Half Marathon (13.1 miles) was introduced in 1998, (together with three fun runs), to broaden the event and allow more people to enjoy the Two Oceans experience, and is a catalyst for some runners to step up to the ultra distance. The Half had nearly 10,000 runners this year-the second time the numbers for the Half have eclipsed the Ultra. The route is along the same course as the Ultra for the first 6 km but then lies inside the Ultra route and never reaches the coastlines of either the Indian or Atlantic oceans.

The Half was hotly contested. Top runners included Australian Commonwealth marathon champion Kerryn McCann. With a half- marathon PR of 1:07:48, she was strongly favored for the win and also to better the course record of 1:15:27 set in 2002 by Charne Rademeyer, who was running along with fellow top South African Ronel Thomas.

In South Africa the norm is to start long-distance races in the dawn hours. With start times of 6:20 am for the Half-Marathon, and 7:00 am for the Ultra, thousands of runners and event personnel materialized out of the darkness and gathered to await the dawn. The cut-off time for the half-marathon runners was extended to three hours, and the ultra runners were intentionally started later, to avoid the leaders of the ultra marathon running into the back of the half marathon, which has been a problem in the past. The cut-off time for the Ultra is now seven hours-extended from six a few years back to allow more people to enjoy the race experience.

South African runners have to enter under the auspices of their running club, and club colors were everywhere. International, i.e., not from Africa, runners can enter as individuals, but everyone has to purchase a one-day S.A. license at registration.

All finishers in both races received medals: gold for the top ten, silver for the slightly less speedy, and bronze after that.

2006 saw the introduction of the new Sainsbury Medal for those ultra runners who complete the 56 km race between 4 hours, and 4:59:59. Later, once I'd finished my Half, I was in the stands as the last minute for the Sainsbury was counted down by an insane cheering, horn blowing, banner-waving crowd, driving the runners in the finish chute to pull the last vestige of energy out for a sprint to the line after running 34.8 miles! The final qualifier (with determined but definitely last-effort legs) was cheered over the line at 4.59:58.

As race-time approached, the race marshals kept up a terrific job of getting everyone in the seeding corrals. Weather conditions were perfect. Radio stations, TV cameras, and aerial helicopter coverage were all on hand. The countdown for the half- marathon was called right on time and race started in a stampede.

I had mentally divided up the course into a fast 10K to the base of the mountain; a 2-mile haul to the top; 2-mile tempo recovery along the ridge and then a quick 5K down again to the finish. The crowd support the whole way was tremendous. The roads were clean and well-shaded. Two African bands, strategically placed, beat out a perfect running-up-the-mountain rhythm on the long climb up Southern Cross Drive. Refreshment stations were numerous with lots of volunteers handing out sachets of water, Gatorade, and cups of Coke. I ran my race plan and was strong up to the 20K mark, which was in the middle of a final sneaky little uphill, then died. Luckily the finish was close, only a half-mile ahead and downhill onto the campus, and I ended up in third place in my division with a time of 1:35:20, a little over two minutes off the leader.

Meanwhile, up front, two new course records were being hammered out for the half-marathon. Cuthbert Nyasango of Harmony Gold Running Club shredded the men's race in 62:54. In the women's race, Helaria Johannes of Namibia led Kerryn McCann in 73:35, with the Australian crossing the line in second place in 74:08. The third and fourth runners, Poppy Mlambo and Ronel Thomas, were also under the previous record.

In the Ultra, Marco Mambo and Elena Nurgalieva did not manage their three-peat. One of the strongest fields ever produced two new winners, with Zimbabwean Moses Njodzi (who finished 10th in 2005) taking top honors in 3:06:50. He went through the marathon mark in a fantastic 2:15:49 and, despite some cramping in the last 5K, held his pace for the win from compatriot Honest Mutsakani in 3:08:14. South African Sipho Ngomane was third in 3:10:07. The women's race wasn't over until it was over. The crowd went crazy as Elena Nurgalieva led the way down the chute but then had to fight off a last minute kick from fellow Russian Tatyana Zhirkova, who outpaced her in the last 200 yards and flew across the line in 3:36:19. Nurgalieva finished 10 seconds back in 3:36:29 with Hungarian Simone Staicu third in 3:37:15. No one has yet managed to break Frith van der Merwe's women's record set in 1989 (3:30:36).

With 18,000 entrants, it was the second-biggest field ever. International representation came from Iceland to Austria to Argentina and many other places in between, with a total of more than 1280 international runners from 59 countries. The United Kingdom (251) had the most entrants, followed by Germany (224), and Zimbabwe (131). USA had 88 total: 41 in the Ultra, and 47 in the Half. Ages ranged from 16 to 80, though everyone was a kid compared to the oldest contestant of all: 102-year-old Philip Rabinowitz, who ran the Friday 8K fun run.

1970: The First Race, Saturday 2 May 1970:

The race was never intended to be anything more than a training run to enable the Cape Town runners to prepare for the Comrades Marathon. The 26 runners who set out on the 35-miler from Impala Park were not aware that they were the pioneers of an event that would eventually attract more than 15000 entrants. The entry fee was the princely sum of 50 cents and there were only 15 finishers. The winner was Dirkie Steyn in a time of 3 hours 55 minutes 50 seconds.

1977: The Race becomes a Pre-Entry Event:

By now it was becoming clear to the organizers that the race had the potential to develop into a mammoth event. This led to the introduction of more stringent rules about seconding and runners were no longer allowed to enter late.

1988: Magawana Shatters all Previous Records:

On 2 April 1988 Thompson Magawana broke two world records and established a course record (3 hours 3 minutes 44 seconds) for the Two Oceans ultra marathon that has yet to be equaled or bettered. In doing so, he not only improved on his 1987 record- winning time by 1 minute 47 seconds, but also bettered the world best times for the 30-mile and 50-kilometre distances.

(Info courtesy of Two Oceans Marathon)

Alison Receives her plaque for 3rd place in her age group in the half marathon.

Full results, runners' histories, and race stats and information about the April 7, 2007 race can be found on the Web site: www.twooceansmarathon.org.